Re: RFC: Starting a stable kernel series off the 2.6 kernel

Matan Peled
2005-12-06T20:40:26Z

Richard Knutsson wrote:
> But I do wonder how copyright and GPL can co-exist. Do the copyright
> holder own the changes anybody else does to the code?
> Anyone care to explain?

IANAL, but GPL is a copyright license. Copyright is the right to make copies of
somethings, to distribute it to be precise.

So if I write foo.c and release it under the GPL, and JR Hacker takes it and
writes foo++.c but doesn't give his super duper sekrit version to anyone, then
he isn't bound by copyright laws (he isn't making copies) and therefore the GPL
doesn't hold for him.

The moment he wants to give a copy to his best friend, the GPL does kick in,
though, and he has to abide by the GPL and distribute the whole piece (as it is
a "derivative work") with the source code included (or an offer, or whatever.
Read the GPL sometime, its not legalese at all).

For more information, ask your friendly (*cough*) neighborhood lawyer.

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